Car radio, an interesting story ot

[Don Coatney]

This may or may not be true but an interesting read.

CAR TUNES

Radios are so much a part of the driving

Experience, it seems like cars have always had

Them. But they didn't. Here's the story.

SUNDOWN

One evening in 1929 two young men named William Lear and Elmer Wavering drove their girlfriends to a lookout point high above the Mississippi River town of Quincy, Illinois, to watch the sunset. It was a romantic night to be sure, but one of the women observed that it would be even nicer if they could listen to music in the car.

Lear and Wavering liked the idea. Both men had tinkered with radios. Lear had served as a radio operator in the U.S. Navy during World War I and it wasn't long before they were taking apart a home radio and trying to get it to work in a car. But it wasn't as easy as it sounds: automobiles have ignition switches, generators, spark plugs, and other electrical equipment that generate noisy static interference, making it nearly impossible to listen to the radio when the engine was running.

SIGNING ON

One by one, Lear and Wavering identified and eliminated each source of electrical interference. When they finally got their radio to work, they took it to a radio convention in Chicago . There they met Paul Galvin, owner of Galvin Manufacturing Corporation. He made a product called a battery eliminator a device that allowed battery-powered radios to run on household AC current. But as more homes were wired for electricity, more radio manufacturers made AC-powered radios. Galvin needed a new product to manufacture. When he met Lear and Wavering at the radio convention, he found it. He believed that mass-produced, affordable car radios had the potential to become a huge business.

Lear and Wavering set up shop in Galvin's factory, and when they perfected their first radio, they installed it in his Studebaker. Then Galvin went to a local banker to apply for a loan. Thinking it might sweeten the deal, he had his men install a radio in the banker's Packard. Good idea, but it didn't work, half an hour after the installation, the banker's Packard caught on fire. (They didn't get the loan.)

Galvin didn't give up. He drove his Studebaker nearly 800 miles to Atlantic City to show off the radio at the 1930 Radio Manufacturers Association convention. Too broke to afford a booth, he parked the car outside the convention hall and cranked up the radio so that passing conventioneers could hear it. That idea worked, he got enough orders to put the radio into production.

WHAT'S IN A NAME

That first production model was called the 5T71. Galvin decided he needed to come up with something a little catchier. In those days many companies in the phonograph and radio businesses used the suffix "old" for their names - Radiola, Columbiola, and Victrola were three of the biggest. Galvin decided to do the same thing, and since his radio was intended for use in a motor vehicle, he decided to call it the Motorola.

But even with the name change, the radio still had problems:

When Motorola went on sale in 1930, it cost about $110 uninstalled, at a time when you could buy a brand-new car for $650, and the country was sliding into the Great Depression. (By that measure, a radio for a new car would cost about $3,000 today.)

In 1930 it took two men several days to put in a car radio the dashboard had to be taken apart so that the receiver and a single speaker could be installed, and the ceiling had to be cut open to install the antenna. These early radios ran on their own batteries, not on the car battery, so holes had to be cut into the floorboard to accommodate them. The installation manual had eight complete diagrams and 28 pages of instructions.

HIT THE ROAD

Selling complicated car radios that cost 20 percent of the price of a brand-new car wouldn't have been easy in the best of times, let alone during the Great Depression, Galvin lost money in 1930 and struggled for a couple of years after that. But things picked up in 1933 when Ford began offering Motorolas pre-installed at the factory. In 1934 they got another boost when Galvin struck a deal with B.F. Goodrich tire company to sell and install them in its chain of tire stores. By then the price of the radio, installation included, had dropped to $55. The Motorola car radio was off and running. (The name of the company would be officially changed from Galvin Manufacturing to "Motorola" in 1947.)

In the meantime, Galvin continued to develop new uses for car radios. In 1936, the same year that it introduced push-button tuning, it also introduced the Motorola Police Cruiser, a standard car radio that was factory preset to a single frequency to pick up police broadcasts. In 1940 he developed with the first handheld two-way radio the Handie-Talkie for the U. S. Army.

A lot of the communications technologies that we take for granted today were born in Motorola labs in the years that followed World War II. In 1947 they came out with the first television to sell under $200. In 1956 the company introduced the world's first pager; in 1969 it supplied the radio and television equipment that was used to televise Neil Armstrong's first steps on the Moon. In 1973 it invented the world's first handheld cellular phone. Today Motorola is one of the second-largest cell phone manufacturer in the world. And it all started with the car radio.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO

The two men who installed the first radio in Paul Galvin's car, Elmer Wavering and William Lear, ended up taking very different paths in life. Wavering stayed with Motorola. In the 1950's he helped change the automobile experience again when he developed the first automotive alternator, replacing inefficient and unreliable generators. The invention lead to such luxuries as power windows, power seats, and, eventually, air-conditioning.

Lear also continued inventing. He holds more than 150 patents. Remember eight-track tape players? Lear invented that. But what he's really famous for are his contributions to the field of aviation. He invented radio direction finders for planes, aided in the invention of the autopilot, designed the first fully automatic aircraft landing system, and in 1963 introduced his most famous invention of all, the Lear Jet, the world's first mass-produced, affordable business jet. (Not bad for a guy who dropped out of school after the eighth grade.)

[Flatie46]

It is interesting, thanks for the post.

[DCurrent]

WOW! What a story. It doesn't seem like inventions like that happen today unless your filthy rich.

Darren

[T120]

Good article,Don.Thanks for posting.I guess they really came up with a winner.There was an exponential rise in the number of auto radios in just a few years...Although it may not be of interest to anyone here on the forum,I have an original 1933 Auto-Radio service manual that I picked up at a swap meet in Reno,NV about 20 years ago.I've copied the index in case there's a model someone is interested in.The information covers schematics,installation,etc.Keep in mind there is nothing newer than 1933.I would copy and forward by email any information on a particular model if anyone is interested.

(click on image to enlarge)

[BobT-47P15]

I think a guy named Frank Miller invented "F M" radio.

[Don Coatney]

I think a guy named Frank Miller invented "F M" radio.

I believe you have your modulation out of frequency. I heard Franks brother Albert had a case of non curable monoamplitude and broadcast it all over the country.

[OldDad67]

Thanks Don great story I've heard bits and pieces over the years but never this complete. Good stuff......

[Rusty O'Toole]

Have seen a "car radio" installation done by a radio enthusiast about 1920. The radio was the size of a small suitcase and resided in the trunk. In order to use it you had to stop the car and string up a wire antenna. But it was handy for picnics lol.

[Rodney Bullock]

I am very happy and proud to read that the first car they installed their radio in was a "Studebaker" I wish they could have talked The president of the company at that time to include it in new cars. I see that time was not right as the great depression was on and I think Studebaker was in recevership at the time. I think with all things, as time goes on the technology of electronics makes for the size and ease of operation. I am glad to know that Motorola is an American company. The football watcher on the forum can see the technology in action on the headsets of the coaches on the sidelines. Police radios and walke talke's. when we look at the steps in evolution if one sticks to it the product will develop. As the years roll by one inovation gives way to another until you have a whole line. Great minds do great things as the Lear jet is one of the great development of our time. All this from inside of a 1920's Studebaker:) WOW Oh what ever happened to that#@^& Packard;) See what happens when you listen to a couple of chicks on a date.

Edited January 17, 2012 by Rodney Bullock

[meadowbrook]

Neat story!!

Speaking of radios, my '50 D34 has a tube AM radio (Mopar 807?) that came in the trunk when I got the car.

My dad used to build tube radios as a kid and teenager and so he took my radio, replaced all the condensers and added an input jack so I can also play an Ipod through the amp.

So I tell folks my radio is an AM radio that play Ipods...but you need to wait 10 seconds for it to warm up before you hear music:D